Blank Space Cake

Another heart cake! I really should make them more often than just Valentine’s. I almost didn’t post this one because the photos turned out a little wonky (in hindsight, I probs shouldn’t have photographed a white cake on a white background but it’s too late now!), but I figured the Sparkly Heart Emoji Cake was for people who like Valentine’s and this Blank Space Cake could be for people who don’t. Or just like Taylor Swift.

So this cake is made up of two layers of the very best vanilla cake ever. I’ve tested literally a zillion yellow and white cake recipes trying to find my favorites and go to’s. They’ve all just been kinda bland and ehhh. But I think I’ve finally found my to go yellow cake. It packs a bunch of vanilla flavor and it’s super soft. And it’s too easy! Wins all around.

I wanted to make a colorful filling for this cake, and went with a strawberry + rose combo. You know, for v day. You can get rose extract at Sur la Table! It *claims* to be out of stock online, but I found it in my store. It’s also a little pricey, but you seriously don’t use much of it so I think it’ll last a long time.

To be 100% honest, I’m not a huge fan of floral flavors. I like lavender (which you can also get in extract form at Sur la Table) a little better, but to me, rose kiiiiinda just tastes like perfume. But you know, maybe you’re into that. Or maybe if you hate Valentine’s Day and prefer to spend it grumpy and mopey, that might be something you don’t mind subjecting yourself too.

Idk, I’m really not a Valentine’s person. I just like cake.

So about this fake blood! Originally I wanted to use something similar to the filling, but the texture just wasn’t right. I was slightly running out of time to finish this thang, so I grabbed a few tubes of red decorating gel from the baking aisle at the grocery store. Turns out they’re BRIGHT red, so I stirred in a dab of black food coloring. Once you stab the cake (also good for anti-Vday people), just pipe it around and spread it out with a toothpick.

And voila. Blank Space Cake. Don’t forget to stand on some horses, stab some paintings, and set your ex’s clothes on fire and throw them out the window.

Process strawberries in a blender or food processor until smooth. Strain puree through a sieve to remove seeds if desired. Combine strawberry puree and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Reduce heat and let mixture simmer for about 10 minutes, or until mixture resembles jelly, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat, stir in extract, and let cool completely before using.

Place one cake layer on a cake stand or cake plate. Pipe a border of frosting around the top edge of the cake. Spoon filling over cake, but inside the border. Smooth with a spoon if necessary. Place second cake layer on top and fill in the gap between the two cakes. (At this point, I put my cake in the fridge for 30 minutes. This helps me get smoother frosting, but that's just me!)

Spread remaining frosting over the whole cake. Use a star tip to pipe designs around the bottom and top edges.

Stir together the red decorating gel and black food coloring (to make it a darker color; the gel is super bright red). Slide your knife into the cake and pipe the gel around it. Use a toothpick to spread it out and give it more of a shape.

Notes

Recipe frombethcakes. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without permission. If you would like to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.

Hi Erin! I’m not sure that this cake would work in three 8-inch round pans. I think it might work in two 8-inch pans or even two 9-inch pans, but I think the layers might turn out a little thin in three pans. I would bake them about 20-25 mins, keeping an eye on them until they look done and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake layers comes out clean. I hope this helps!